L4D2  Numb
by Magickal-Phay
Summary: It's three years after the apocalypse, but the men are still struggling for survival.  Warning: coarse language, sexual themes.


No one can be the perfect optimist. No one can smile forever, even if they're living on a platter of happiness. Every happy person has their moments, and rightly so. Memories come up, arguments arise, and it can take a moment to breathe before you're able to smile again. It may also take the compassion of another to get you back on your feet. The only problem was...compassion wasn't Nick's forte.

"Anybody? Hello? Coach? Ro'? Nick? Where are yah?'

Confused and alone, Ellis ran through the sugarcane field in a desperate attempt to find his fellow survivors. The damn rain pounded his face and his arms, biting him and licking him as if mocking his feeble attempts. He clenched his Desert Eagle in his hand as the wind threatened to tear it out of his grasp. Zombies ran at him hungrily, clawing at his clothes before they fell at a single gunshot. Soon, even aiming a punch with his free arm was difficult as visibility was reduced to zero. All he had on his mind was getting out of the field and finding the others. But the more Ellis ran, the more he felt lost.

His boots were full of mud and his shirt stuck to his chest as he shoved the crops out of his view. The clouds descended further, lightning cracking and exploding around him. His heart threatened to leap out of his chest.

"Guys, where are yah?"

No answer. When he thought it to be impossible, the rain got thicker, blinding the hick completely. The wind tore through the field like a wildfire, tearing some crops right out of the soppy earth. Ellis brought his arm over his face and tried to block the stinging rain from hitting his eyes. His head strained as his ears listened to the screaming wind. He couldn't even hear himself calling the names of those he had grown close to – the reporter, the coach, and the gambler. If they'd stuck around with him to this point, where were they now?

The earth tricked the mechanic as the roots of the crop protruded from the mud and wrapped themselves around Ellis' boots. He tripped and painfully fell onto his hands and knees, splattering wet dirt all over his face. More zombies swarmed around him, apparently better at navigating through the storm than Ellis was. Out of breath, he rolled into the crops to hide himself.

A voice entered his ears. Immediately, the hick looked towards it. But the storm was so overpowering, Ellis couldn't even tell if he really did hear a voice after all.

"Uhhhnnn..."

There it was again. Ellis was sure of it. But it was still pretty hard to decipher it. He crawled towards the source cautiously. Was it Rochelle? Did she get lost as well? Was she hurt?

The fog and the rain grew thicker still, and the figure making the noise was cloaked in darkness. But there it was, laying low in the mud like Ellis.

The hairs on the back of Ellis' neck sprang up. He shuddered, but he ignored the warning bells and the red flags that told him to leave the figure alone. Somewhere in the back of his head, he thought it was one of his friends.

"Ro'?" Ellis asked over the wind. The figure straightened up sharply at the loud call behind it. Slowly, it turned around. Ellis approached it and stretched out his arm to make contact with it.

The lightning flashed again, revealing the true nature of the body coming closer to him. The thunder exploded a second after, and Ellis only had enough time to get to his feet before the Witch screamed at the deafening noise. The screams blended in with the wind perfectly. Her eyes glowed red and she brandished her blood-covered claws.

Ellis whirled around and started to run, the Witch hot on his heels. Ellis could barely distinguish the difference between the screaming and the wind flying into his ears. The mud seemed to grab his feet as if the ground tried to pull him down into the earth.

He ran harder, blinded by water and mud, and collided with a large pipe that crossed his path. He tumbled face-first into the muck below him. His face throbbed and he tasted blood in his mouth as he quickly pushed himself up. He pulled his empty hands out of the dirt.

"Shit, shit, SHIT!"

He frantically ran his hands through the mud to find his gun. Then the cool feel of smooth metal found its way to his fingertips. He grabbed his gun and pointed it behind him in a desperate attempt at saving himself. The Witch was closer than the mechanic had anticipated. The lightning flashed, allowing Ellis to see another glimpse of his predator. She raised an arm, spreading her fingers wide to showcase every single one of her six-inch long claws that impressively reflected the light of another lightning bolt before she descended upon him. He didn't even get to pull the trigger.

"ELLIS!"

Ellis gasped and snapped open his eyes, flailing his arms around quickly. The claws that had felt so real dissolved in an instant, along with the mud and plants that had surrounded him moments before. Now, he stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom from the safety of his bed. His jolted joints relaxed shakily, allowing him to calmly rest his arms on the mattress supporting him. His stomach felt cold as his heart pounded, and his face felt hot underneath a film of sweat. He pressed his palms into his eyes, sucking in a long breath through his nostrils.

Nick didn't wake up at Ellis' sudden startle. His always-furrowed eyebrows were relaxed, his shiny dark brown hair wispy and messy, and his arm under his head, lightly snoring away. His face was right beside Ellis' left shoulder. Ellis turned his head slowly to look upon his lover, but felt no relief.

Ellis slipped out from under the covers and exited their bedroom, heart still pounding ferociously. He used the wall of the hallway to support him and guide him to his destination. He winced as he moved his aching body into the bathroom. His bare feet slapped against the linoleum as he stepped through the open door. He grabbed the sink and supported himself with his shaking arms. He squeezed his eyes shut and wrinkled his forehead. He cleared his throat and took in a few more deep breaths as he tried to shake off the nightmare he had just experienced.

Slowly, he parted his eyelids and craned his head to look at his reflection in the dirty mirror in front of him. His face was covered droplets of sweat that smeared over his unusually pale face. His eyes were red, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Slowly, his gaze drifted down his stubble-covered neck to his chest. He swallowed and pushed himself off the sink's ledge to fully observe himself.

The nightmare was not just another figment of Ellis' wild imagination that haunted him in his sleep. It was but another memory, and one he couldn't forget. He was reminded everyday - his skin was marked with four long, white scars that extended from his right pectoral muscle down to his left hip. The Witch had landed a good swipe to his chest, but it wasn't deep enough to kill him instantly. How he managed to get out of that field alive was lost to him. He couldn't remember, and he never asked any of the survivors once he regained consciousness. Everything was in blinks and flickers – he remembered being dragged through the mud, and then he was on the boat in what felt like seconds. Vergil had stitched him up well on the boat, and lucky for him...

Ellis dragged his fingers over the scars gently with his nails from the highest point to the lowest. He shivered at the contact, for he couldn't quite feel anything on those old wounds. It was like someone was breathing cool air under his hand, maliciously teasing him and caressing him.

Ellis' stomach clenched. He immediately looked away from his skin and took yet another deep breath. He reached forward and opened the medicine cabinet to hide the mirror away.

Three years had passed since that night. Three hard, exhausting years. At least he was alive today. At least the infection had been repressed afterwards. The population of humans was slowly returning to healthy levels around the world and all three of his friends had managed to survive with him. One of them managed to stick around until now. Okay, maybe do more than just 'stick around', but at least he had someone... even after everyone else had been taken away from him in a few days before he met his unsuspected match.

But how long would it be until he actually told Nick about the nightmares? This wasn't the first time waking up to the horrid memory. He had been getting the same nightmare for about two weeks now, every night until he woke up at the same point; when someone yelled his name too little too late. He thought it was because he was reminded of the true nature of his scars – he went to the memorial in the centre of the settlement, which honoured everyone who fell victim to the plague. It was there when he thought about how he wasn't a victim himself; how he survived. After all, he couldn't remember anything that had happened after the Witch attack.

But Nick wouldn't understand if he told him... he would see him as weak or something... that seemed like Nick. They were just scars, not an extra arm or something outrageous. Almost everyone on the settlement had scars, just not as severe or... disgusting.

But sooner or later, he knew that Nick would ask why Ellis wouldn't sleep with him. It wasn't because Nick was losing his touch; far from it, really. Ellis had no real explanation other than the fact that he had his mind on other things... specifically how he couldn't remember anything that happened after the Witch attacked him. He knew Nick knew, but he didn't want to ask. Whenever he got close to bringing it up, Nick would shut him down.

Ellis rubbed the back of his neck and reached into the medicine cabinet. He grabbed a can of shaving cream and his razor.

Maybe today would be different... then again, maybe not.

"Hey Nick! Mind wakin' up anytime soon?"

Nick's dreams clicked off like a light switch as Ellis' voice invaded his sleep. The door of the bedroom swung open and cool air drifted in. The blankets draped over his back as he buried his face deeper into the fluffy pillows supporting his head. Heavy footsteps clunked behind him.

"Go away, Ellis," Nick groaned. "And take your boots off."

Ellis sat on the bed beside Nick.

"I'm bored. I've been up for, like, three hours, man."

Nick growled. "Then go outside or come back to bed." Nick re-buried his face into his pillow, muttering something about Ellis and five-year-olds.

"I was actually gonna go out, but..."

Nick lifted his head off his pillow and turned his gaze to Ellis. He was fully dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket, and shoes, topped off with his old hat.

"We're outta food," Ellis murmured. Nick blinked and furrowed his previously-rested eyebrows. "We need tuh get more."

"Lemme guess – you want me to come with you?" Nick grumbled. Ellis nervously coughed.

"Well... yah have the money..."

"That's what I meant, kid," Nick retorted.

Nick crawled out of the bed and stretched his back, bearing his nudity without qualms to the hick. Ellis coughed again and averted his eyes, blood rushing to his face. He turned to look out the window to try to mask his flustered expression.

Nick's thin lips stretched over his straight teeth in a coy grin at Ellis' tense posture. He snuck up behind the mechanic and wrapped his firm arms around his waist.

"We could always go later..." Nick purred in Ellis' ear. He dragged his nose behind Ellis' ear, and then his parted lips in an attempt to coax his partner back to the comfort of their bed. Ellis shivered and gulped. Nick ran his hands up Ellis' torso under his unzipped jacket and shirt. His fingers gracefully slid over the little bumps that made up his long, narrow scars towards the waist-line of his low-rise pants. He smiled at Ellis' sudden arousal, and prepared to secure his property.

Ellis' abdomen tightened sharply. He threw his arms up and grabbed Nick's wrists, pulling them away from him forcefully. His breaths came out in pants and huffs. His grip on Nick's wrists loosened after a silent moment.

"Maybe tomorrow," he mumbled, his shyness replaced with a more solemn and tired look. His mouth twitched into a small smile. Nick's hands fell to his sides.

"You said that yesterday. And the day before. What gives?" Nick asked. He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side, anger slowly showing on his face. Ellis turned his head slightly.

"Nothin'. I'll be outside."

Nick was exasperated as Ellis shimmied past him, avoiding eye contact and rubbing his neck. He turned down the hallway, crossed the living room, opened the front door, and quietly shut it behind him. Unable to go back to bed in the angry mood he was in now, Nick turned to his dresser and pulled open the drawer with a little more force than required.

Nick wasn't used to rejection, especially from Ellis. But it was happening more often than not. How long had it been since they actually had sex? A week? More? Nick couldn't pin-point a day or night. And Ellis wasn't exactly acting like...Ellis. One minute, he'd be obnoxious and talkative and down-right annoying, but the next, usually when Nick 'wasn't paying attention', he'd be quiet and staring at the floor.

There was just no explanation. Nick figured this started two weeks ago, after Ellis came home late from going to the new epitaph. He left excited, he returned pale and discreet. Did he do something wrong?

Of course, Nick suspected the worst. He recognized the signs: the subtle mood swings, awkward silence, avoiding any sexual contact, laughing off important conversations Nick tried to start. He'd seen them before, in the two women he had secured a little bit of a relationship with. Both of them left him for someone else – someone a little happier, he suspected. So did that mean that Ellis had moved on? Was he just waiting for the right moment to say something?

Nick didn't want to ask him outright. Maybe he was wrong.

Now dressed, Nick combed his hair back messily with his fingers before leaving the bedroom. He yanked his jacket off one of the pegs in the foyer. He opened the door and shut it firmly behind him, jacket in hand. He slowly spun around to walk beside Ellis, only to stop and stare.

Ellis was staring at the sky. His blue eyes dimmed as thick gray clouds flew over top of the settlement slowly. Even though Nick was an arm's length away, Ellis was as far away from Earth as could be. Nick looked from Ellis' gaze to the large clouds above him and back again. His mouth went dry as he pulled on his jacket slowly. This was the kind of behaviour that set him on edge.

"Kid," Nick huffed. He firmly placed a hand on Ellis' shoulder. Ellis jumped at the touch and snapped his eyes over. Instantly he relaxed and smiled as if nothing had happened.

"Ready?" Ellis asked. He didn't wait for an answer as he walked over their messy yard to the cracked sidewalk, beaming as he breathed in the fresh air.

It was Nick's turn to stare up into the clouds as he lightly stepped next to the kid. He frowned at the sight and flared his nostrils. He hated storms...

"Fuck," he murmured.

Suddenly, a sharp gust of wind blew through the street and slammed into the men. It wasn't enough to stop them from walking, but it made their jackets billow and wave around wildly. There was a small crack behind them as a branch fell off the old willow in front of their house and crumpled at it hit the street.

"Woah!" Ellis gasped. He pulled his coat closed and zipped it up to the collar. As soon as it died down, Ellis forced a smile, ruined with his wrinkled eyebrows. His voice sounded concerned while his mouth looked care-free. Nick bit his lip and sighed angrily.

"Man, did yah see that? The wind, it was, like, a wave of – "

"Yeah, kid, I know," Nick muttered. He looked in front of him and spotted the grocery store in the distance. A hard feeling entered his gut as he looked up into the large clouds again. Nick looked at his watch. 2:17pm.

"No, I mean, it was so loud! I ain't never felt wind like that! Well, except for that time –"

"Ellis, now is not the best time," Nick replied harshly.

"Like that time in the –"

"Ellis! Shut. Up!" Nick spat.

Ellis shut his mouth and looked down at his feet, gulping.

Yes, Nick knew. The wind always set him on edge. He just wondered why it didn't do the same to his younger companion; especially since the night that gave him those horrific scars was the reason he hated certain weather conditions. Little did he know that Ellis was shaking under his coat, and not because of the cold closing in on the settlement.

Ellis trudged onwards with Nick in tow, keeping his arms close to his body as the wind grew a little stronger. The grocery store wasn't too far in distance, but to him, it felt like it was miles away. The wind sent him trembling away uncontrollably. He wished he took Nick's offer and went back to bed, even if he'd have to explain himself. Nick's little outburst cut him off from bringing up that night in the field.

Ellis looked over to the old bar that was salvaged from the apocalypse at the sound of a door slamming against the wall behind it. A man stumbled out of it drunkenly. His face was disfigured with a single healed slash across his eye that had sealed right over it. His bulgy figure wriggled around as he groggily struggled to pull a cigarette out of his pocket. He succeeded, placed it in his chapped lips, and lit it. He took a long puff, only to release it in a fit of loud, rib-breaking coughs.

Ellis recognized the sound. If he didn't know any better, he'd be on the lookout for another one of those damn Smokers.

Ellis looked away, sweat beading on his forehead again. Nick leaned closer towards him.

"We need to talk," Nick growled under his breath roughly, eyes flashing from the coughing man to Ellis and back again. Ellis swallowed and smiled.

"How 'bout later!" he chirruped. His voice betrayed him as it cracked. Nick stopped walking, looking more frustrated, but Ellis wasn't keen on staying around the bar as the fat man coughed harder and harder, let alone talk to Nick about that outside of their home. Nick sighed again and had no choice but to catch up to Ellis, who had already made it to the parking lot of the store.

They made it to the store's doors and entered.

"Okay, what do we need?" Nick asked. Ellis sighed and shrugged.

"Eggs, milk, water, bacon...?"

At least it was a start. And it didn't help that breakfast was the only thing on Ellis' mind. Nick nodded and grumpily and headed towards the back of the store to the refrigerated section. Ellis grabbed a basket and jogged to catch up with him. Nick wasted no time in collecting the milk and eggs they would need for brunch.

"Wan' me tuh get the bacon?" Ellis asked with another wide smile. Nick nodded absentmindedly, focussed on finding his favourite type of bread. Ellis walked away towards the small meat section. He rounded the corner of the aisle. No one else was in the isle save for a woman and her young daughter, who were looking at frozen vegetables. Ellis politely walked past them and found the bacon he had been craving for so long.

"Mummy," the little girl muttered, her legs swinging from the cart's child seat, "I want bacon, too."

The woman looked behind her and saw Ellis picking up a package of the desired meat, turning it over to inspect it. Ellis looked back and smiled again.

"Afternoon, ma'am," he said. The woman's eyes were dark from nights of restless sleep, her skin thin and pale from exhaustion. The young girl jutted out her bottom lip, her eyes angry. The woman looked away quickly after a curt nod towards Ellis.

"No, Maddy," the woman replied. "You know how I feel about meat..."

Ellis peeked over his shoulder at the comment, then stared at the meat again, debating.

"I don't care, I want bacon! If he can have bacon, I can have some, too! Mummy, please!"

Ellis cringed as the girl raised her voice. He grabbed a different package of bacon to compare it to the other he had selected.

"No." The mother pulled out a bag of frozen peas and placed them in the cart beside Maddy's legs. Ellis jumped at the sudden sound of the peas being slammed to the ground. He looked back at Maddy, who had thrown the peas out of the cart. Her hands were curled into tiny fists, her little nose wrinkling with anger.

"Daddy would let me have some!" she yelled. Ellis squeezed the two packages of bacon nervously.

"Daddy's gone, sweetie."

Maddy's eyes welled up with tears. She started pouting and growling. The beads of sweat grew. Ellis swallowed and shakily put the bacon down, getting ready to calmly walk back to Nick.

"Gimme some!" she yelled. Her petite body racked with little sobs.

Ellis couldn't move. He slowly looked up at the lights above him and wished they were off. Why was he wishing that, out of all things?

Jus' calm down, man. Jus'. Calm. Down.

"NOW!" Maddy ordered. She raised her voice into a high-pitched squeal that made Ellis squeeze his eyes shut and send his heart in to a frantic pace. His vision went red as Maddy's voice grew louder.

"GIMME SOME BACON NOW, YOU BIG OLD FAT MEANIE! I HATE YOU! I WISH I WAS NEVER BORNED!"

The screaming became louder still. He watched Maddy raise her arm and slap her mother across her face.

"MADDY!" the mother gasped. She grabbed the little girl's swinging hands and squeezed them hard. Maddy screamed further, crying and kicking.

Ellis felt the bacon slip out of his hands so he could plug his ears. He dropped the basket and rushed out of the aisle, his breaths shallow and useless. He didn't care if Nick didn't follow. He just needed to get out of there before he snapped. He felt something tugging at his stomach lightly. He grabbed his chest as if that would soothe his heart, his stomach now throbbing. He ignored the gazes from the other costumers as they murmured with concern.

"Did he just hurt a little girl?"

"Is she okay?"

"What's that guy's problem?"

Ellis shoved the doors out of the way and crossed the parking lot.

What the fuck was happening to him. Why couldn't he hold it together?

Once he felt his foot connect with the sidewalk, he heard footsteps approach quickly.

"Ellis!"

Nick was following him. Ellis didn't look back, the nose wrinkled in frustration.

"Ellis, stop right now!"

Ellis refused to until Nick grabbed his arm and wrenched him around. Ellis didn't look at him.

"What the fuck was that?" Nick yelled in his face. His grasp on Ellis' arm tightened sharply.

"Nothin'!" Ellis replied loudly. Nick grabbed Ellis' chin and roughly turned his head to force his eyes to look into his.

"Bullshit! Now tell me the fuckin' truth."

Ellis clenched his jaw, his eyes burning.

"What do you want me to say?"

Nick sneered. "You can start with why you won't tell me the truth, because you're really testing my patience."

"Well, what do yah think?"

"You wanna know what I think? Fine, I think that you don't wanna be around me anymore, or more the point, that you found somebody else! If you are, I don't give a fuck, okay? Just man-up and tell me!"

Ellis was shocked. Nick was breathing heavily, his grip on Ellis' chin and arm tight and firm.

Ellis shoved Nick off him angrily. "That's not it at all! Fuck, man! I would never – how could you – why would yah think that?"

Nick stumbled back. Ellis felt his eyes burn into his face. Ellis opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as something hit his face. He looked up at the sky as rain started to fall. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Ellis looked back at Nick, unable to speak, his heart still pounding. Nick was looking up at the sky, too.

The rain started to grow thicker. Ellis had had enough.

"I'm going home," he muttered shakily.

"What?" Nick asked, his attention caught again. "No, you're not. Not until you talk."

Thunder rumbled in again from behind Nick, almost silent. The wind grew stronger as Ellis stared at Nick. Ellis turned around and started walking.

"If yah wanna talk, we'll talk at home. See yah."

He ignored Nick yelling after him, focussed only on the rain hitting his back and the thunder growing louder still. He made it home without Nick following behind him. He probably went back into the store to grab the groceries he left behind. Good. That gave him time to think to himself.

Nick thought he was cheating on him? Out of all things, it had to be that.

Ellis slammed the door behind him angrily, his head throbbing as the girl's screams echoed in his head, Nick's words burning into his being. He grabbed his head in attempt to suppress the voices to no avail.

Suddenly, he was no longer in the house... he opened his eyes to the field again, holding his gun up at the Witch. The little girl's screams came out of the Witch's mouth, and her arm was raised again. He watched as she struck him again, the memory coming back in what seemed like full fruition.

The claws re-entered his gut, slicing open his flesh to expose his organs in one swoop.

And then she disappeared, taking the girl's screams with her.

Ellis was on the floor of the kitchen, shaking and sweating. His stomach throbbed, his head pounded. He turned onto his side and wrapped his arms around himself, tears welling up in his eyes. The moment had felt so real, but was it just another dream?

Nick wasn't able to go home without cleaning up after Ellis first. He had stormed back into the store and cleaned up the broken eggs and the spilt milk caused by Ellis carelessly dropping the basket. He paid for the spoiled food along with more to take home with him, trying to ignore the clerk's stares.

"Is everything okay, sir?" she asked as she ran his items through. "Is your friend okay?"

Nick had no patience for it. "You don't get paid to ask me that, do you?"

The clerk blushed and looked away, quickly throwing his stuff into a grocery bag.

"That'll be thirty-seven dollars and fifty-three cents."

Nick pulled out two twenties and threw them onto the counter, leaving before she could even open the till to retrieve his change.

The wind was even stronger now. Nick rushed to get home, the rain soaking through his coat and shoes. Thunder sounded behind him, making him cringe every time. He couldn't even keep his mind focussed on Ellis.

He crossed his front yard and rushed inside, forcing the door shut against the wind. He locked it and wiped his face dry. He shrugged off his coat and shoes quickly, breathing slightly faster than usual. There was a storm coming, there was no question about that.

Nick turned around to walk to the kitchen. Ellis wasn't there.

"Hey, Ellis, guess what! I had to clean up your mess at the store. And pay for it, too!"

Nick heard the bedroom click open. Ellis emerged from the hallway.

"I'll pay yah back. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Talk. Now."

Ellis shuffled nervously on his feet.

"I'm not cheatin' on yah or nothin'. I've just been thinkin' lately."

Nick braced himself for the final words. He may not be cheating, but maybe leaving period.

"Y'know that night three years ago?"

Nick furrowed his eyebrows, caught off-guard.

"What?"

Ellis didn't look up from his feet. He crossed his arms protectively over his chest.

"You know what I'm talkin' about."

Nick growled and shoved the eggs into the fridge. He didn't want to say it. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about, and the thunder booming outside wasn't helping. Ellis, satisfied at Nick's reaction, opened his mouth to speak.

"I went tuh the memorial and I thought about it a lot. An' I've been gettin' nightmares lately from it... and the girl screaming in the store really set me on edge... I jus' don' like rememberin' it, that's all."

Nick snapped, the vision of Ellis bleeding out burning into his mind. "You don't even remember most of it."

Ellis looked up again and frowned. "I remember enough."

"Enlighten me!" Nick barked. Ellis jumped slightly as Nick threw the vegetables into the fridge and slammed the door shut. Ellis waited before shakily answered the conman.

"Well, I was lookin' fer you guys after we got separated at the elevator. The rain... was all thick-like so I couldn't see an' the wind was so loud that I couldn't hear yah guys callin' fer me... if you were. An' I startled her. I ran, I tripped, she got me, and everythin' went black."

Nick tore open the cupboard and grabbed a tumbler. He reached up and swiped a bottle of scotch and poured it into his glass. He downed it with one motion and threw the glass into the sink. It broke.

"You wanna know what happened afterward? What I went through after that? Listen carefully, Overalls, 'cause I'm going to say it once."

Ellis took a step back. He uncrossed his arms as if bracing himself for a fight. It only made Nick angrier.

"We were looking for you through that storm, alright? I was by myself, the others were close by. I saw you running for it ahead, so I started running for you. Little did I know you set a fuckin' Witch on your ass! So there I am fighting her and getting her off of you. She didn't get you deep, but you were bleeding everywhere. Yeah, that's always pleasant to look at! So I dragged you through the mud until the others caught up with me. We dragged your ass into a goddamned safe house and I was pretty sure you were dead, all because of your stupid mistake!"

Ellis cowered at Nick's anger and sarcasm.

"We managed to patch you up, and then you woke up in the safe house. So I thought, hey, maybe things aren't as bad as they seem. You even walked to the boat by yourself! You were fine, and I thought that maybe I didn't fuck things up. But then we got back on the boat and you passed out, just like that. You were gone again. Vergil stitched you up and made you comfortable and everything. When you woke up, you just happened to forget everything? Everything I did for you? After I dragged you out of that field, after I told the others that we wouldn't leave you behind, after I made sure you were breathing?

"So don't tell me you've been thinking a lot about this when there's nothing, NOTHING, to think about on your end. Guess what, I can feel pain too, damn it! Every time I fuckin' look at your scars, every time it rains, I think about when I almost lost you! You owe your life to me, whether you like it or not."

Ellis simply stared, jaw trembling. His face went red as Nick's body shook with rage and fear, breathing deeply. Thunder cracked outside again. Nick recoiled slightly.

"Fuck it, I'm going to bed."

"Wait, Nick..."

Nick ignored Ellis' shaky voice and shoved past him. He turned up the hallway. He went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Hours passed. Nick was under the blankets of their bed, wincing with every deafening thunder blast and blinding lightning flash that came from his window. He suspected that Ellis was on the couch sleeping. But who could sleep through this?

The wind had already taken some of the shingles off of the roof. Nick heard them snap off and skitter across the surface. The house creaked ominously as rain poured out like a fire hose everywhere. Lightning flashed again, the thunder shaking the foundations further without a second. The storm was right over top of them. It was undeniably worse than the night he had found Ellis too little too late.

Was Ellis still awake as well? Was he... suffering like he was? Was suffering the right word to describe this pain in his gut? Nick wanted to check on Ellis, but something screamed for him to stay put. Fear? There was nothing to be scared of! A little rain, some wind... a memory that seemed to have pleasure in haunting its victims.

Suddenly, Nick heard the muffled sound of wood splintering, followed by a loud groan.

BANG!

Nick jumped at the thunderous sound of wood and glass being crushed. The house shook violently, sending Nick sprawling out of the bed onto the floor. He didn't know what it was, but it sure as hell wasn't thunder.

Nick jumped to his feet and cleared the bed, wrenching open the door. He was met in the hallway by the wind, which attacked him as he struggled to make his way to the living room.

"ELLIS!" he screamed against the wind. Lightning flashed again, revealing the worst.

The old willow from their front yard had toppled over and landed right in the house. The leaves rustled furiously, the wind howled, and the lightning flashed yet again. The couch had been crushed under the tree's weight. If Ellis was alive, he couldn't hear him calling for help. The large branches obscured his view.

"ELLIS!" Nick repeated. The conman ran to the couch and looked through the branches for any sign of his lover. He blinked as rain flew into his face.

He found Ellis slumped over under a collection of small sharp branches. He was holding his stomach, still and silent. This looked so familiar... was he bleeding? The wind sounded more and more like the Witch that gave him the scars the reminded him of her every day. The branches morphed into large, blood-covered claws. He was too late...

"NICK!"

Nick blinked at Ellis' cries, the sight of Ellis' dead body flickering away as if it were all just a dream. The tree was still in the living room. Ellis was struggling under the tree, his leg pinned to the floor.

"Help!"

Without any time to spare to think about what had just happened, Nick climbed through the branches towards Ellis without missing a beat.

"C'mon, we have to get out of here!" Nick yelled over the screaming wind. He made it to Ellis and grabbed him, who grimaced as Nick tried to pull him free.

"My leg's stuck!" Ellis replied. Nick ducked as something else flew over his head. He wrapped his arms around Ellis and placed his feet on the tree. Ellis did the same with his free foot.

"One, two, three!"

Simultaneously, the men pushed the tree off Ellis, just enough to slip his leg out of harm's way.

Nick led the way out of the branches, holding Ellis' hand to help him. They jumped to the floor as part of the wall caved in and went through the ground Ellis was just on a few seconds ago. Nick pulled Ellis' arm over his shoulder and ran down the hallway to the bedroom. Once inside, Nick set Ellis on the bed and went back to the door to slam it shut. He placed both of his hands on the wood, panting heavily. Ellis gasped and sighed behind him. Nick was shaking, soaked to the bone from the rain.

"That was...fun," Ellis panted. He smiled and chuckled.

Nick turned slowly and approached the bed. Ellis was inspecting his leg. It was bleeding a little, but judging by Ellis moving his foot, it wasn't broken. Nick bent over onto one knee and grabbed Ellis' leg.

"I'm fine, you don' have tuh worry or nothin'," Ellis said. Ellis extended his hand to him. Nick took it and allowed Ellis to pull him onto the bed beside him.

"That was some shit!" Ellis gasped with a smile. "I forgot what a rush yah get when your life is in danger an' all."

"I saw you dead..." Nick replied. He was still shaking, using the somewhat calm moment to reflect on it. Ellis went silent. "I could've sworn that you..."

Now he sounded plain foolish. He peered up at Ellis, expecting a look of confusion. But Ellis was looking at him with an odd feeling of understanding. Nick looked away, shaking his head slightly. Ellis leaned back against the headboard.

"I thought I lost you again."

"You never lost me. Hell, I've always been with you, since day one."

Nick blinked and realized the truth to Ellis' words. Ever since the day they'd met, even though he was almost unbearable to be around, he was the only reason he never left the others. And no matter how much of an asshole he was to Ellis, Ellis would still smile and say, "Well, I still like yah, Nick." But when Ellis actually had something important to talk about, Nick twisted it around again, turning something worse than moving forward to fix it. Maybe he was a coward that way.

Just visioning Ellis the way he had found him after the Witch attacked him made him realize how scared he could actually get.

It seemed like seconds passed, but in fact, half an hour had passed. The wind had died down greatly, the rain casting a pleasant hum around them. The tree's branches creaked outside of the bedroom, sending more waves of negativity through the gambler. Ellis moved his hands to the hem of his damp shirt and pulled it up slowly, collecting the fabric in his hands as he revealed his scars one by one. Nick didn't want to look quite yet, but Ellis looked at them, thinking.

"I used to think these were gross... but they remind me... Yeah, how I got them ain't all that great to remember – "

"Kid – " Nick whispered.

" – but it's more than that."

Nick clamped his mouth shut, letting Ellis continue.

"I have these to remind me of you; how yah did so much for me, gave me more time to live my life... how you're there for me... and that kinda thing isn't easy to find in a world so big..."

Ellis fingered his scars, running his hand up them slowly.

"And tah think I made this person, the one who I owe my life to, angry at me because I didn't tell them something that involved him just as much as it did me. It did involve yah as much as me... everything I do does. And I'm sorry I didn't see that sooner."

Nick didn't speak. He was numb, his shaking and the pain in his gut gone. His breaths were shallow and quiet as he stared out the window. There were no words he could possibly say. After everything they'd been through, after shirking death countless times, even after the infection ceased to threaten them, there was still room for something more... maybe another person. No one had ever told him so much.

It was Ellis who realized a tear was streaming over Nick's still face. He reached forward and flicked the tear off with the back of his index finger. Nick closed his eyes and shivered at the touch; the feel of the familiar rugged hands against his cheek. Ellis pulled Nick from his frozen position closer to him. Nick closed his eyes as Ellis dragged his lips over the damp area of his face. He didn't know how to react to the unusual contact; he had been so used to jumping right to the sex part that he forgot the value of light touches and grazes.

Ellis' breath was warm on his face as he kissed Nick's watering eye, holding his face preciously.

"We don't have to do this if you don't want to..." Nick murmured. Ellis smiled and replied with another kiss to his cheek, loose and soft. He moved down to Nick's jaw-line, dragging his tongue gently over his skin to his neck. Nick tilted his head back to expose his neck further, warmth spreading through him slowly. Ellis leaned closer to Nick, forcing him to use his hands to support himself. Ellis placed his hands on top of Nick's and squeezed them softly, dragging his plump tongue towards Nick's soaked dress shirt. Sucking gently at the crook of his neck, Ellis guided Nick to his elbows and used his hands to unbutton Nick's shirt, following his fingers with his seductive tongue.

Nick breathed deeply through his parted lips as his tingling skin grew sensitive. The wind hushed outside, yet was forceful enough against the house to ensure some sort of security around them. The lights flickered off, but the men didn't notice. Ellis pushed the fabric of Nick's shirt off his shoulders, allowing the soft wet cotton to caress his back muscles as it slipped down. Nick shuddered as Ellis advanced, rubbing his hands over the conman's chest sensually.

With his eyes still closed, he decided to go along with Ellis' little game. He pushed himself up to his knees and grabbed Ellis, pulling him close to his face to press his lips against the mechanic's, burning with desire. Ellis wrapped his legs around Nick's waist as Ellis raised his arms. Nick grabbed Ellis' shirt and pulled it over his head, breaking their kiss only for a moment to remove it completely. Nick lifted Ellis higher to run his own tongue down one of Ellis' scars, breathing hot breaths against his cool skin.

Ellis arched his back at the contact and tightened his hold around Nick with his legs. Nick kissed the scars one by one, digging his fingertips into Ellis' back as if he were about to disappear into thin air. He sat there clutching his lover, kissing into the night as the rain calmed down and the wind blew away, taking it's torment with it.

The next morning, they awoke with their naked legs intertwined together, their faces a mere breath away from each other, exhausted and care-free as they listened to the hum of chainsaws in their front yard.

There was never a more comforting sound.


End file.
